Electric battery.



'R. w. ERWIN.

. ELECIRIC BATTERY. APPLICATION FILED APR. I5, 1915.

msmwa Patented Feb. 25, 1919.

'IETB- 1 [A P EA TOR. HAEDND MLEHWIN 4 By 624W- WITNESS A TTCRNE Y 'meuts is suspended RAYMOND WILLIAM ERWIN, OF FREMONT, OHIO, .ASSIGNQR,. BY MESNE 'AS SIGNMENTS,

" FTQE;

T0 NATIONAL CARBON COMPANY,- INC,, A CORPORATION {31? NEW YORK.

ELEG-TRIC BATTERY.- Y

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed-April 15, 1915. Serial'No. 21,535.

T 0 all whom '1' 25 may concern:

Be it known that I, Rayaroxn Viimrsar ERWlN, a citizen of the United States, ie siding at Fremont, in the county o f-"Sam dusk? and State of Ohio, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Electric Batteries. of which thefollowing is a full. clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to primary batteries and moreparticularly to alkaline cells containing electrodes of zinc and Copper oxid;

' In such alkaline cells the copper oxid is used either in a flaky or powdery condition inside a perforated container or in a. molded mass held together by a suitable binder. My invention relates particularly to the former type, though in regard to some aspects, it may be used with the latter.

One object of the invention is to prevent the granular or flaky oxid from sitting out through the perforated container during shipment and subsequent handling.

Another object is to construct the battery in such a way that there are fewer parts to be shipped when filling an order for the cells.

Other objects will appear in the appended description. Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of an assembled battery taken on the line A-A of Fig. '2.

Fig. 2- is a sectional plan of the battery taken on the line BB of Fig. 1.-

Th flaky or powdered copper oxid 1 is retained in the metal container which has small perforations 3 to permit the ready access of the alkaline electrolyte. This perforated container is secured between de-.

pending lugs 5 of the insulating support at by means of a. rod 6 and nut '7. To the insulating support are also secured zinc electrodes 8 by means of threaded bolts 9 in such a manner that they are arranged on opposite sides of the container and insulated therefrom.

This assembly of copperoxid and zinc elefroin the cover 12 by a nut 15 on the rod 6 which passes through vthe central hole 11. The cover with the parts as thus assembled, rests on top of the jar 11 which is usually made of glass. ll ing nuts 19 serve to attach a wire from the external circuit to the terminal rod (5. A11

insulated wire 10,"passing through a hole 20' in the. cover, is secured toone of the bolts 9 "assembled by the user.

and serves for the negative terminal of the cell. The alkallne electrolyte, usually dium hydroxid, this the jar to the requis Patented Feb. 2a, was.

height and is covered by a layer 17 of oil to prevent evaporation of the solution or its contan'iination by the carbon dioxid of the air, as well to eliminate the creeping of salts up the side of the jar.

Cells constructed as just described are never shipped in a complete, assembled condition on account of difficulty in preventing the electrolyte from spilling out during shipping and subsequent handling. They have accordingly been shipped una-ssembled, and such shipments. prior to my invention, would contain a package ofsodium hydroxid crystals. the electrode assen'iblyathe cover, the glass jar and a bottle ofoilj On receiving, the shipment the user poured the requisite amount of water into the jarv and dissolved the sodium hydroxid crystals therein. Thecover with the suspended assembly was then placed in positionand the oil poured over the tOp of the electrolyte.

7 In making these shipments considerable =tr0uble'has been experienced with the flaky or powdered copper oxid sitting out through the perforated container. There have been numerous proposals made to preyent this, one being to coatthe perforated? container, or bind the oxid together, with some mate-v rial that will dissolve out in the electiblyte when the cell is assembled. Sugar has been suggested as a desirable coating or binding ,..material, on the theory that it would remain neutral-in the battery action and do no harm. I have found, however, that sugar, glue and other similar materials soluble in the .electrolyte, are harmful in one way or another to the life of the battery. 1 therefore have used entirely different means for preventing the sifting out of the copper oxid. This consists in converting the depolarizer into a viscous mass by meanso't a liquid that is not soluble in the electrolyte but that will rise to the surface of the same when the battery is As an example of such a material, I will mention ordinaryengine .oil, though other non-volatile mineral oils may also be used. Oil is especially suit able for this purpose as it automatically forms the necessary protecting layer at the top of the electrolyte in the assembled cell.

T o carry out my invention I assemble the copper oxid element in the porous container "in'the usual way and then immerse itufor four or five seconds in the 011. It is then rewhich isa necessary moved and the excess oil allowed to drip oif 'the'container. By this process enough oil is.

absorbed to partially saturate the copper oxid, but a portion 18 of the oxid in the center is left in a dry condition. While the entlre mass may be saturated with oil if desired, I find that it is preferable to leave the central part dry, so that it will absorb the excess oil from the outside portion and there will-be no tendency for the oil to ooze out through the holes in the container when the element is stored or is being shipped. The oil in the copper oxid causes the particles to hang together and preventstheir sifting out through the holes; The element can be kept in storage any length of time without destroying the etficient action of the oil and when it is placed in the electrolyte by the user, the oil of course does not dissolve out in the electrolyte but rises to the surface and automatically. forms the protecting layer part of the assembled battery.

If the electrode assembly is immersed in ooldelectrolyte, it will take about an hour for the oil layer to form on the top, but if the electrolyte is hot it will form In about five minutes.

It would naturally be supposed that oil in the copper oxidwould have a detrimental action on account of its insulating properties, but I have found that it not only has no objectionable act-ion, but on the contrary has a beneficial effect by somewhat increasing the life of the cell.

The improvement just described is not only to prevent flaky or granular copper oxid from sifting out through the perforated container, but also to eliminate the separate rise to the top on account of its lighter weight.

Having described my invention, what I claim is l. A primary battery electrode consisting of pulverulent copper oXid soaked in a mineral oil.

2. In a primary battery, a porous container inclosing an electrode of pulverulent copper oxid moistened with a mineral oil.

3. In a primary battery, a perforated sheet metal container inclosing pulverulent copper oxid electrode material moistened with a mineral oil at the surfaces adjacent to said perforated container.

4. In a primary battery having a fluid electrolyte, a porous container inclosing an electrode of pulverulent material containing a mineral oil in sufiicient quantities to float on the electrolyte when immersed therein.

5. In a. primary battery, an alkaline electrolyte, a zinc electrode and a perforated sheet metal container inclosing pulverulentcopper oxid containing a mineral oil.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto aflix my signature.

R. IVILLIAM .ERIVIN. 

